Monday, November 24, 2008

The Majestic

A man in a state of amnesia is wrongly mistaken for a dead soldier.

Peter Appleton (Jim Carrey) is a Hollywood movie writer wrongly accused as a communist sympathiser. With his career probably to be short lived by ending up in a blacklist, he got drunk and met with an accident while driving. With his head receiving the blow, he landed in a small town of Lawson, unable to remember where he came from or who he is. Add to that, he resembles a local, a soldier who died 9 years ago in the war. Unable to shake his 'father's' conviction that he is who he say he is, he 'continues' his life as Luke Trimble, a son of a man who owns the town's theater he no longer operates, the Majestic. At the same time, he is wanted by the FBI as he was assumed to be taking flight from authorities

Will he get his memory back? And what happens when the FBI finally finds him?

The Majestic brings us back to the era where the investigation of communist infiltration into Hollywood took center stage. We were brought along to examine the life of a fictitious character whose life is affected by this dark era. It tries to show that no matter who a person is, he can be who he wants to be, even someone we want him to be. As a feel-good movie, the effect of seeing peoples' life turning for the better after a certain event can easily be felt. Luke's return revived the town again after its spirit died when many of its young men were lost in the war.

While there is nothing bad about this movie, there is nothing I find that holds me dear. Unlike Forrest Gump, where we can treat it as a fantasy we like to see happen, Majestic beckons the question - is it that simple in real life? Can we simply pick up from where we left and move on?

While the addition of a political plot in this movie gives its share of diversity, it somehow pollute the main story of a man who finally finds himself. As with any movie within this genre, a love story is a must. With it having not much of attention, none of it's sub genre is that effective. Probably the only reason I find this movie somewhat appealing is Carrey. As in Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind, Carrey played his role of a man who is reluctant to accept who he is, effectively.

I'll probably watch it again, but maybe just once more. Watch this when you are feeling down. You'll feel good after that